Quote Originally Posted by craigafrechette View Post
I think you're going to find varied answers to many of your questions. And for various reasons.

We live in a world where anybody can put anything on the internet, and sometimes pure bull plop spreads like wild fire.
Sometimes Jimmy at the local pet store tells a new keeper something and they tell two people and it ends up on social media, etc..etc...etc...

But the bottom line is this: different setups work for different animals in different geographic areas in different enclosures.

I personally only use belly heat in the winter. The rest of the year I run ambient temps. But that's what works for ME and MY animals where I live.

You're never going to get a large crowd to agree, especially when the topic is something people are passionate about.

I started experimenting once I had enough experience to know what I was looking for as far as changes in my animals behavior, eating patterns, etc...
Until then, I started basic, with what has been proven to work.

Unfortunately, when I started out in this hobby in 1999-2000ish there were no forums like this (or at least I didn't know about them) so I read books and did the best I could with what I knew, ugggh. Reptile carpet, heat lamp, HEAT ROCK....This hobby has come a long way, thank goodness!!!
That's amazing to hear! Also, both very helpful and true post. Honestly that's why I was still confused between knowing what to do. But luckily, I've been getting a lot of good advice from all around, so I kind of have a sense of how to take care of things n such.
It's a good thing we have these forums nowadays, huh?